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Tuesday, October 20, 2015

A friend of mine asked me to make her an owl camera lens buddy for her new photography business, so I worked this little guy up. He would also be great on the end of a baby bottle, I think. It's only a simple little pattern, but I thought I'd share it in hopes that it would help someone out. I wrote it down as I went along, but have not made a second one to test it out so please, if you find any errors or have any questions, let me know.

You may not sell or claim this
pattern as your own.
You may, however, share the pattern freely and sell any items you make using
this pattern, all that I ask is that you give me credit as the designer with
the info above.
Thank you for respecting my copyright.
Please enjoy!
♥

MATERIALS

Hooks: US G and D

Yarn: DK weight (in two complimenting colors – called
color 1 and color 2 throughout pattern (+) a small amount of white and black)

Ponytail holder / hair tie

ABBREVIATIONS

ch chain

sts stitches

sl st slip stitch

sc single crochet

hdc half double crochet

dc double crochet

tc triple crochet

inc increase

dc2tog double
chain 2 together

sp space

fo finish off

NOTES

Beginning ch 1 / ch 2 does NOT count as first st in each round.

Start each round in same stitch as joining sl st from
previous round.

When finishing off eyes, leave long tail for sewing.

BODY/HEAD

Using US G hook & holding 2 strands of yarn together:

Round 1: using
color 1 attach yarn to ponytail holder with a sl st, ch 2, dc 38 around
ponytail holder, join to top of first dc. (38 sts)

Holding these 6 strands together, fold in half. Push
resulting loop in one of the ch 2 sp, going from front to back, enough to pull
ends back through loop. Pull snugly to secure and trim ends to desired length.

Sunday, October 11, 2015

My, how time flies! A great big "Thank You" to those who have kept in touch with me through your comments (which, just so you know, I work hard to always answer as quickly as I can!), those who still follow along here at my blog (even though I don't post as much as I once did) and also to those who have come on over to my Facebook page and followed me there! For those of you who didn't know yet, I have indeed started a Facebook page to share all things creative...a companion for my blog, if you will. I am able to post a little more frequently there, so I'd love it if you would click through and "Like" and "Follow" me there!

It is a beautiful crisp Autumn morning here in Tennessee. As I was sitting here in my big, comfy chair, drinking my yummy coffee, in my Autumn mug no less...

...and looking out my window at the beautiful red and gold leaves blowing in the soft breeze as they mingle with what remains of the green leaves of the warm seasons, sneaking in a few rows of knitting on a baby blanket I am making...

...I was thinking of you and thought it was high time that I peeked in to say "Hi."

Don't you just love the feel of the yarn running through your fingers as you knit and/or crochet? ...and getting lost in the rhythm of working the yarn with your needles and/or hook. Man, it just doesn't get much better than that!

That is, except for holding your brand new granddaughter! May I introduce you to the newest member of the family, Little Miss Audrey!

I am so in love with her!

Well friends, I thank you for allowing me to share with you. I hope that you have an amazing and blessed Sunday!

♥♥♥

O taste and see that the Lord [our God] is good; How blessed [fortunate, prosperous, and favored by God] is the man who takes refuge in Him.

Friday, April 10, 2015

Back in January I learned that my youngest son is making me a grandma, but they were keeping it under wraps for a bit, and I couldn't share. They are now sharing with everyone so I get to share now too....Grandbaby #1 is due September 16!But wait, what is this...?

My Easter gift from my oldest son was the news that he is making me a grandma as well! Grandbaby #2 is due November 25...two grandbabies in one year! I am one happy Grandma-to-be!

♥♥♥

Grandchildren are the crown of the elderly, and the glory of children is their parents.Proverbs 17:6 CEB

Tuesday, March 10, 2015

Last Wednesday we got MORE ice and snow but, thankfully, not as much as the previous two ice storms. It was enough to keep UPS and the mail from running out here, but no more damage to our home, or the area, and the power never went out...YaY! And now we are finally getting a relief from the winter weather! Double YaY!

I was sick this weekend, so I was forced to stay home. It's funny how you can get inspiration from even the yuckiest of things. I was feeling restless and decided to draw. I call this "Feeling a Little Green" because, well, I was feeling a little green. ;0)

I finished another dishcloth and was finally able to get it soaked in vinegar water to set the red and got a pic of it to share.

The pattern is French Stripe Dishcloth by Megan Delormefound on Ravelry here. This was a very simple pattern, and just perfect to do when riding in the car or
watching a movie/show. I changed the striping up just a bit because I was afraid that I was going to run out of red if I didn't use more of the other colors than what she did in the original pattern. I really
like how it turned out. :)

Right now I am working on creating a new pattern to share with you. I just finished the first run of it. I have a few tweaks to make and then I will work it up again and post it here. Keep a lookout!

In the meantime, stay safe and warm and be blessed!

♥♥♥

In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His graceEphesians 1:7

Friday, February 27, 2015

With ice from the previous storm was still on the trees, ice storm number two rolled in last Friday night through Saturday morning, showing us absolutely no mercy. In addition to the weight of the ice from both storms, we were simultaneously hit with a massive windstorm. These two things coupled together caused more destruction than I have ever seen in my entire life! Here is a slideshow of some pics that I took from my back and front porches Saturday morning as the storm was happening:

And here is a description of the slides:

Slide 1: The view from my back porch.

Slide 2: As I am standing on my back porch in awe of the destruction, I hear a “snap, crackle and crunch” and all of a sudden I saw one of the trees behind hubby’s shop break in have and fall to the ground! This was about the scaredest I can remember feeling. It was like being in a war zone, not knowing where the next hit would be from, or how close to you it would be.

Slide 3: From my front porch….you can see my internet wire running across my yard in the middle of the pic.

Slide 4: The weight of the ice alone was too much for the trees to bear. Here you can see how the limbs of the big tree in front of our house is bending over as if it were a Weeping Willow tree….I assure you, it is not. If you look to the right side of the pic, you will see that the limbs and branches are laying on my house.

Slide 5: Here is a better view of how the limbs and branches of our front tree is laying on the roof of our home

Slide 6: If you look at the top of the largest trees here, you will see that the limbs at the top are bent over. What you can’t see clearly, is that they are actually broke and hanging by just a big of bark and that they are ready to come plummeting to the ground.

Slide 7: When I took the first pic, only the branch closest to the house was there. I no sooner took that pic when the second one (closest to the vehicle) broke off, hit my suburban, bounced off and landed beside it (right in front of me)!

Slide 8: This is a piece of one of the branches from the big tree in the back yard. Notice it is laying on the floor inside of my house….

Slide 9: This is how the hunk of branch (from the previous image) made it’s grand entry into our house. It perfectly pierced through our roof, the insulation and then finally our ceiling in one fail swooft! It sounded like it took out the whole end of the house, but thankfully, this was all the damage that was done to the house through this whole ordeal, but it just about scared the life out of me, that’s for sure!

The views from my porches show such a small part of the destruction of this storm. If you'd like to get a better view of what the storm did in our area, please visit the following pages:

Although our home is still without power, I have so much appreciation and respect for our area linemen who have been working so hard to restore power to our area. There has not been once that I have been out and about over this week that I have not seen guys re-lining and putting up new poles...even when more snow came in Wednesday night. The crews from our phone/internet provider, Ben Lomand, were out first thing Saturday morning also, helping the electric crews as well as working on our phone/internet lines. The way these guys have pulled together is nothing short of amazing! Our phones and internet went down about an hour after our electricity did on Saturday morning, but Ben Lomand had us back online before Monday afternoon. WoW!

While there are so many still without power, and most of us with a lot of work ahead of us as we work to get our homes repaired, our land cleaned up and our lives back to something that resembles "normal," please keep our area and those affected by this storm in your thoughts and prayers. Thank you!

Keep warm, stay safe and have a blessed day!

♥♥♥

He says to the snow, 'Fall on the earth,' and to the rain shower, 'Be a mighty downpour.'Job 37:6

Tuesday, February 17, 2015

Yep, you read that title right. We've had ourselves an ice storm and Tennessee has declared a state of emergency. It started Sunday evening and we woke up yesterday to ice-covered everything...including the road in front of our house being a solid sheet of ice. There have been countless wrecks, trees down all over the place and the majority of the area has been out of electricity for various amounts of time...and still out in some places. Here is a slideshow of pics from my front and back porches as well as a few from hubby's trek out earlier today....

Of course, this is perfect "curl up with some yarn and needles/hook" weather and it would be just plain wrong for me to not take advantage of it! I have three different projects going now and just finished blocking these sweeties...

The pattern is Be My Valentine Dishcloth by Lily / Sugar 'n Creamfound on Ravelry here or directly from the Yarnspirations website here. Yarn Used: Lily Sugar 'n Cream in Red, White and Robin's EggHook Size: US HThis was a sweet little pattern and was very easy to follow. Just to note, the bobbles on Round 4 don't puff out, at least not for me. For the pic I actually had to push them out from behind and pinch them up so that they would be visible. Otherwise, they just pretty much lay flat. Regardless, I really love how they turned out...especially in these beautiful, bright colors!I was a bit concerned about the red bleeding and ruining my pretty cloths, as well as anything else that might be in the wash with them, so I did myself a little Google search to see if I could find some tips. The general census is to soak the item(s) in a vinegar water bath to set the colors, drain and pat the excess water out (don't wring it out or you'll mess up the fabric) and then block as usual. I have done all of the above and, while I haven't washed them yet, there is not a pink/red spot on the white of the cloth, nor the white towel that I blocked them on, so it looks very promising! I'll let you know if there is an epic fail after washing. Not only did my search results lead me to what appears to be a great tip, I also found a really great blog in the process! Hands Occupied by Heidi is, in her own words, "a blog primarily focused on knitting and crochet patterns & tutorials, yarn craft project ideas, and inspiration. Whether it’s a first time knitting project or how to knit your a sweater from start to finish, Hands Occupied is here to help you make it, knit it & own it." In my words, it is a beautifully laid out site with a wealth of information and inspiration! Heidi's posts are easy to read and her personality shines through with a spunky, girl-next-door tone that makes you want to get to know her as she sparks a desire to be creative. If you haven't already stumbled upon this gem yourself, I highly recommend you check Hands Occupied out!

Now, I'm off to work on a gift I've started for one of my nieces. Stay safe and warm and I'll talk to you soon!

♥♥♥

“Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem! Praise your God, O Zion!… He gives snow like wool; He scatters the frost like ashes. He casts forth His ice as fragments, Who can stand before His cold? He sends forth His word and melts them He causes His wind to blow and the waters to flow.”

Saturday, February 14, 2015

A wonderful lady who has been volunteering at the pregnancy center for quite a while was just brought on as staff. We got her a few desk supplies in colors that she wanted and helped her really make her desk her own. One thing that we didn't get her was a new pencil cup. The one she had was the perfect size and she really liked it...except for the ugly brown color. Yuck! So this Tuesday while I was off I snuck into the office and while she was busy, I stealthily put all of her pencil cup items in a mason jar and snuck her pencil cup home with me to create a cozy for it that would match her new desk supplies. When I was looking for yarn at The Yarn Patch, our LYS, I came across the perfect color - Lily Sugar 'n Cream Batik Ombre. Here's what I came up with...

I had her pencil cup back on her desk with her items placed back in it and waiting for her when she got to work Wednesday. She was so surprised and happy! Which totally made my heart smile. I got the biggest hug as a 'thank you' to boot! I just love making others smile!

Thanks for visiting with me today. I hope that you are having a day full of love and smiles.